Dance review: So much to love in Boston Ballet's 'Swan Lake'

By Iris FangerFor The Patriot Ledger

Monday

May 2, 2016 at 12:52 PMMay 2, 2016 at 1:02 PM

The revival of Mikko Nissenen’s production of the beloved “Swan Lake” opened in a rapturous performance led by Misa Kuranaga as both Odette, the Swan Princess and Odile, her wicked twin. She was brilliant, as was her partner, guest dancer Gonzalo Garcia, a principal from the New York City Ballet, in the role of Prince Siegfried.

A lodestar of the classical ballet repertory, “Swan Lake” is a spectacle that has traveled the world since its 1895 premiere in St. Petersburg. It is a heart-breaker because of the young girl doomed to a life without love by the evil magician who has transformed her. We long for a happy ending but understand the power that prevents it.

Kuranaga also danced the lead when Nissenen’s version of the Marius Petipa-Lev Ivanov work opened in Boston in 2014. She has matured in the role and from her first appearance onstage it was apparent the evening belonged to her. Her partner Garcia provided generous support. He is a striking dancer, secure in his technique, especially the double turns and high leaps but even better in assisting her. Garcia is a fine actor, making the sometimes cardboard Prince into a feeling and caring young man who makes a terrible mistake. He partners the fragile Kuranaga with the lightest of touches, sometimes holding her by a finger, or so it seems, in their pas de deux in Act II at last Friday’s opening performance. She responds in kind, melting into his shoulder to soften from her stiff, frightened pose as a Swan who does not dare hope for release. If anything, Kuranaga is even more responsive to Tchaikovsky’s lush score, riding the beats as if she cannot move her limbs without a push from the music, beautifully performed by the Boston Ballet orchestra and conducted by Jonathan McPhee.

As the Black Swan of Act III, Kuranaga is all menace but with a touch of mischief as if to brag that she has the Prince at the beckon of her finger. She is masterful in the technical demands, tossing off the 32 fouettes with embellishments as if the fiendishly difficult demands are nothing at all.

If Kuranaga is the star of the show – and she is – then the corps de ballet of swan maidens dressed in white and moving as one is a close second in their well-rehearsed, almost-scary precision. Other members of the company are memorable in their roles, particularly Lasha Khozashvili as a Daddy-Long Legs-like Von Rothbart, lifting his limbs like the blades of a scissors to terrify his victims. The first act pas de trois: Ji Young Chae, Seo Hye Han and Junxiong Zhao, brings the somewhat sleepy opening party scene of the ballet to sparkling life while the Act III folk divertissements are performed with a welcome bit of attitude this year – as if the dancers were showing off in some village square rather than a royal ballroom. Braintree resident Sabi Varga and Bo Busby led the Spanish Dance with Ekaterine Chubinidze and Brittany Summer, their black-and-white costuming suggesting the dark and light themes of the story. Dusty Button was the glittery centerpiece of the Pas De Cinq (five dancers) at the entertainment.

Nissinen added a prologue that stages the abduction of the Princess by the evil Von Rothbart so we understand the beginning but he ends with an inconclusive premise. The fourth act of the ballet has always been a muddle but one wishes to know if the pair is reunited in the hereafter when Von Rothbart succumbs to the power of their love. No matter. Nissinen has told the rest of the story well, pictured against the lovely fairy tale-illustration settings, reminiscent of a dream and pale-colored costumes crafted by award-winning designer Robert Perdziola.

If you haven’t seen this version of “Swan Lake,” treat yourself to a ticket – and do take the older children or go again if you saw the ballet in 2014. Like the priceless paintings on the walls of the Museum of Fine Arts or the concerts by Boston Symphony Orchestra, this production has become one of our city’s treasures

Note: Varga will alternate as Von Rothbart at some performances of the ballet.

Dance review

SWAN LAKE - Performed by the Boston Ballet at At Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St. Program repeats with cast changes through May 26. $35-$220, 617-695-6955, www.bostonballet.org.

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